my 2 cents' worth

The people of the US State of Alabama had spoken in last night’s special state senatorial elections. They voted for a decent,respectable man in the likes of Doug Jones even if he’s a Democrat instead of Roy Moore, a highly unsuitable Republican who has extreme radical views as well as being accused of molesting teen-aged women when he was still in his 30’s.

The choice of a good and decent person to represent the values ,beliefs and attitudes of the State of Alabama at the US Senate in Washington,DC was imperative and still reflective in this situation..

Alabama has set an example to the rest of the USA and to the world to emulate.

I have never lived in Alabama but if I do or ever did, it would make me proud for what happened last night.

From a throwback to the movie title “When Harry Met Sally”, majority of the folks in London were thrilled with yesterday’s engagement announcement of Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle.

Ms. Markle represents a modernizing change to the Royal Monarchy in England,considering her social background(which I do not need to mention anymore since the press has played it to the hilt).

Prince Harry himself has been a nonconformist and living his life on his own terms since his early years though as he matured later on, he took on his royal duties and advocacies with great heart and zeal.

This couple obviously share similar views and likes in life as well as realistic expectations as how their life together will be as time goes by.

What’s important will be their continuing devotion to one another which will help go through the good and not so good times to come their way.

When Prince Harry met Meghan for the first time, he said that he knew that she is “The One.” And the rest as they say, is history.

For all of US President Donald Trump trying to tweet away every alibi,explanation and statements regarding his crisis management of the US colony Puerto Rico which was ravaged by Hurricane Maria, all I can say is that this will be part of an awful page of his political legacy if he doesn’t use all of his so-called expert business management skills to pull this out very successfully.

Yes, Puerto Rico poses as a geographical challenge for all but this will be no different for the US state of Hawaii if it happened there as well. And to top it all, Hawaii is at least a good 3 hour flight away from the US state of California. Just a food for thought.

Being the political pessimist that I am, I wonder as to why the slow response to helping out the US citizens who live in the US colony ? Is it because Puerto Ricans cannot vote in the US general election but only in the primaries, therefore he doesn’t get any political advantage unlike Texas and Florida(both US states also ravaged by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma respectively and received prompt government crisis management response)?

Whether he likes it or not, he will be forever connected to Hurricane Maria and Puerto Rico so if he wants to make this part of his political legacy great, the time to act assertively and convincingly is now.

The Puerto Ricans aren’t looking for perfection. Just to start rebuilding their lives. They’re trying to help themselves but the government can give a helping hand.

On a belated note, the recent death of 81 year old country music icon Glen Campbell who had been struggling with dementia (specifically Alzheimer’s Disease)is a pivotal moment for him who wanted to leave a mark in this world and to say goodbye in his own way. He did it his way and I applaud him for that. He was able to do it while his mental faculties were still intact at that time and savoring every moment of it with the support of his family,friends and fans.

I could see him now with his big white horse,wearing his studded cowboy outfit(rhinestones of course) and riding towards the heavens with the musical backdrop of his great hit—Rhinestone Cowboy.

Jerry Lewis,comedy icon and philanthropist/fund-raiser for the National Muscular Dystrophy Foundation had died yesterday at age 91 after a brief illness.

May you rest in peace and as your ending song after each MD fundraiser states, You Will Never Walk Alone as the angels escort you to the Pearly Gates. I’m sure your comedy team partner Dean Martin will be waiting for you up there to greet you a warm welcome.

Today(June 14), being Flag Day, I thought that giving reference to the flag (irregardless of from what country one belongs to) is the priority task for today.
However, due to fate, it wasn’t meant to be. Neither giving much prominence that today is also the birthday of US President Donald Trump.

What happened today was the shooting of 1 US Republican Congressman (Rep. Steve Scalisse) by a gunman, known to be a supporter of US Senator Bernie Sanders during the 2016 US Presidential election. This all happened in a baseball field in Alexandra,Virginia,USA where both members of Congress were practicing baseball in preparation for a charity game tomorrow evening.

The gunman died from gunshot wounds inflicted by the US Majority Whip’s security staff( who were luckily present ). Rep. Scalisse was stable and will undergo hip surgery because he was shot at the hip. Later on, it was reported that he now got out of surgery and is in critical condition at the time of printing this blog.

The gunman through his social media trail, had voiced anti-Trump rhetoric and now the FBI is involved because it’s politically motivated.

I was afraid that because of the rising political rhetoric in the US, that something will just tip over.
Is today’s shooting the wake-up call to finally rein in all those hateful rhetoric which only incite violent feelings from mentally and emotionally disturbed individuals?
Is today’s shooting also the wake-up call to enforce gun regulation since it now affects the US lawmakers amidst a long history of mass shootouts in the US especially during former US President Obama’s term?

Time will only tell whether real changes will finally come or today’s events will just be forgotten in due time.

When I heard today that Sir Roger Moore had passed away after a short time, bravely battling cancer, I felt sad since I had always enjoyed watching him in the movies portraying the suave British spy James Bond,Agent 007 as well as the crime-fighting tycoon Simon Templar in the TV series The Saint. He had a massive movie and theatre career but definitely the 2 aforementioned roles were his most famous ones.

He had been more involved now with UNICEF, being a high-profile United Nations representative for children’s causes worldwide. This was one role that he relished the most until the end of his life.

Him being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II is like a cherry on a big cake. If this were part of a movie story line, it would appear as if the Queen had just knighted James Bond,Agent 007 who always serves at the pleasure of his Royal Highness.

Though I don’t drink liquor, much less a martini like James Bond, to Sir Roger, I salute you with my non-alcoholic drink,shaken,not stirred as you’d like it.